President Donald Trump is "begging" for Congress to "step up" and fix the nation's "broken" immigration system — and is less concerned about shutting down the federal government before or after the midterm elections in that quest, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.
"The president is not focused on the timing of before or after the election, he's focused on results," Sanders said at the White House briefing. "He's been talking about this a year and a half.
"Our immigration system is completely broken.
"He's begging — and has been — for Congress, particularly Democrats in Congress, to step up, do their jobs, stop kicking the ball down the field and work with him to fix the system.
"It's that simple," she said.
Since Sunday, President Trump has repeatedly vowed to shut down the government in September if he doesn't receive his $25 billion in funding for a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico as part of a comprehensive immigration reform package.
His declaration caught Republican leaders by surprise — and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said they opposed a shutdown.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted that "I don't care what the ramifications are" in closing down the government, which he said was "a very small price to pay for a safe and prosperous America."
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